The Diary of a Shy Jinchuuriki
by Apex Soldier
Summary: Naruto, a shy boy, grows up to become a shinobi with the help of his few friends. But what troubles lay ahead for our favorite jinchuuriki when his family history starts getting involved. Naruhina, other pairings pending, Naruto and Hinata switch roles...
1. How it began

**Hello, to new and old readers alike to the remake of one of my oldest stories, Naruto: Tale of his Life...**

**I decided to change a lot of things, things that didn't exactly make my old version well liked...**

**I was inspired to change the title to this by the movie, Freedom Writers, which was an awesome movie...**

**Basically, Naruto is going to write a few things in his journal or diary, whatever... Sometimes it'll only be once a chapter or one in the beginning and one in the end... Either way, I just wanted to be a little different... If it's already been done, well, sorry but I honestly didn't know... I haven't read in a while which seriously sucks...**

**I'm surprised I even found time to do this! AP exams are troublesome, let's leave it at that -_-"....**

**Well, here goes!**

**_"Women get the last word in every argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument."_  
~Author Unknown~**

**Chapter 1: Prologue****...**

**I don't own Naruto... This is a challenge I took up from Aengus... And i was inspired to write again by my girlfriend who I hope reads this soon =]....**

**Enjoy....**

* * *

_Hello... ano, if it is ok, I'd like to say a few things… Ano…My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I've don't own a lot of things… just this pen, this journal and my words…_

_The old man gave me this journal and pen so I could write how I feel, what I do every day and my dreams. This is my first page…_

_Well… I don't really know what to write. I guess I'll just write whatever comes to my mind first…_

_Ano… I have no friends, no family and no hope. I am as lonely as anyone can get and am scared. I've been called many things but all are mostly the same word; Monster. But why? I'm only six and I've never even hurt fly... at least, I don't think I have. I have been blacking out lately and when I come back, I always see a dead person around me. Was I the one who killed them? How?_

_And, the teachers at my school don't like me, not even a little. I only know how to write because I put my ear close to the outside of the classroom door and listen to the teachers explain it to the other students. I don't have the best hand writing but it's something._

_I'm not as dumb as everyone wants me to be, I'm pretty smart for a six year old but I don't want anyone else to know how smart I am. I was kicked out of the classroom for two weeks when I told the teacher I knew the hand signs for a substitution jutsu. I still can't do one because I'm barely considered an academy student but at least in the future I'll know how to perform the hand signs._

_There's something else… today is my... oh no, I hear the villagers… I think they know where I'm hiding. No, they found me! Please, if someone finds this… help me…_

***.*.*.***

A six-year-old little boy lay on his hospital bed as he healed from the previous day's wounds. He had blond, spiky hair, blue eyes and whisker birthmarks on his face. Under his pillow lay the dark orange notebook that the Hokage gave him just the other day. His eyes showed no emotions as he thought back on the day before. While he did, he wondered why exactly his village's citizens would beat him.

Incidentally, yesterday was his birthday, October 10th, the same day the Kyūbi attacked Konoha, the day that the Yondaime killed the Kyūbi, and unfortunately, the same day that Konoha lost the great Hokage.

'_How I wish someday I'll be as great and as respected as the Yondaime was. But I know I'll never be; I know I can never be as great as him… I make too many mistakes. Why else would I get beat up every day? It's because I make mistakes, there's no other reason. I just wish they wouldn't hit me as hard around this time of year.'_

Though he is abused daily, yesterday's abuse was different. Yesterday, the attackers were groggy, unbalanced and slurred when they spoke, a bunch of drunks who happened to see Naruto passing by.

**[*.*.Flashback.*.*]**

**Naruto was walking home after having spent another birthday alone****.**

'_**Why am I so alone? Why must the kami toy with my life'**_** He thought as he continued his walk home.**

**He would've bought himself a birthday gift but everything he wanted was out of his price range. He knew the people in the stores over charged him but there was nothing he could do so he ignored it. Soon, he passed a bar that was full of grieving men and women and heard them crying and screaming dead people's names. Naruto felt bad for those people but again, there was nothing he could do, so he passed on by.**

**A block later, he heard people behind him screaming and sounded angry. He soon panicked as he heard them shout:**

"**MONSTER!"**

"**DEMON BASTARD!"**

"**JUST DIE ALREADY!"**

**He prayed that they weren't talking to him, but apparently, the Kami were bored and decided to have a little fun with his life. He turned around and saw the same people from the bar he passed had followed him, hatred in their eyes and half empty bottles in their hands.**

**Naruto was now completely in front of his mob. "C-Can I h-help you?"**

**This caused the men in the mob to sneer, but the guy who responded was the worst of them all.**

"**Yeah, there is something you can help us with. You can die and go to hell!" The man slurred as he threw his bottle right at Naruto's face.**

**Naruto instinctively duck under the bottle, immediately knowing it was a mistake. His eyes widened when he saw the man's face change from mild anger into rage. The mob then picked up rocks and hurled them at Naruto.**

**This time, Naruto didn't try to dodge it, and let it hit him, doubled over in pain, and fell to the ground. He tried to ignore the pain in his stomach as he tried to stand up again. Only to angering the mob even more.**

"**Stay down you evil demon!" a lady in the back shrieked.**

**This shocked Naruto to the core.**

**Why was she calling him a demon?**

**Before he could continue his thoughts, another object struck him, this time a bottle hit him in the forehead. Naruto fell on his back and raised his hands to his forehead. Then other people continued throwing things at him.**

**Purses, coins, empty bottles, full bottles, bricks, and rocks… anything that wasn't nailed down.**

**Naruto was still cowering on the ground when he looked up. He then saw a girl around his age looking at him, or he thought she was, he wasn't so sure. What also surprised him the most was the fact he saw tears falling down her face.**

'_**Is… Is she crying because of me or… or for me?'**_** He wanted to see for himself but he couldn't get up and see since he was still getting a beating.**

**Halfway through the beating, the pain caused him to black out.**

**The girl who was in fact watching burst into tears as she saw his arms go limp and his eyes close. Then she felt someone behind her and looked up and saw her father, looking absolutely angry.**

**At this point, some of the mob had begun to lose interest in abusing the 'demon child.'**

**One even said, "It's no fun when he's not awake to feel it." Though most of the mob agreed, they kept on beating Naruto like savages. The little girl and her father were disgusted by the man's words and these people's actions, she didn't know how much more she could take of this, though she didn't have to wait long to see it come to an end.**

**Soon enough, she saw her father marching up to the mob. Not wanting to be left out, she decided to follow him. She stopped right behind her father as he stopped in front of the mob and stared at them angrily. When she saw that he had the entire mob's attention, she heard him start speaking.**

"**What are you people doing!?!" He roared, halting the violence.**

"**We're beating the demon to death." Sneered the first man as though he was describing a trip to the market.** **Again the little girl found the man's words sickening.**

'_**So this is the boy who had Kyūbi sealed in him. Poor boy, I'd guess he has to deal with this kind thing every day.'**_**Thought the little girl's father.**

'_**Demon? Are they insane? He looks like an ordinary boy to me.'**_** The little girl thought, rapidly becoming angry herself.**

"**What demon? All I see is a disgusting bunch of low-life drunks beating on a poor, helpless child." He was livif and could not take another minute of the drunks in front of him. "Leave. Now. Before I get really angry."**

**The guy who first threw the bottle at Naruto, missing by a hair, smirked arrogantly as he stepped up and challenged the other man's authority.**

"**And what would happen if we don't?"**

**The other man closed his eyes and let out a loud exhale through his nose while the drunk only laughed.**

"**Ha! Like I thought, no…"**

**The man wasn't given the chance to finish as he flew ten feet into the air and landed five yards away; in a heap, he groaned before succumbing to unconsciousness. The other drunken men and women of the mob could only watch in surprise as they saw that the man across from them had only his open palm where he had obviously struck their 'leader' from where he hit the drunk, now unconscious, behind them.**

**They all cowered and ran in fear, and ran.**

**When the little girl was sure the mob was gone, she ran to the unconscious little boy and laid his head on her lap. Her tears had dried off a while ago but as she stared into the unconscious face of the unknown boy, fresh new tears escaped their imprisonment. Her father put a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave her a comforting smile.**

"**He'll be ok Hinata. If he is who I think he is, then he'll survive this." This helped Hinata out, but only a little. From all she had witnessed, she finally found her voice.**

"**I-It's strange…" she whispered.**

**Hiashi looked at his daughter with confusing clearly visible on his face.**

"**What is Hinata?" Hinata didn't answer right away, though Hiashi was in no hurry to get her to answer.** **Considering the events that the two of them had just seen, he was surprised she had spoken at all. Finally, Hinata started speaking again.**

"**I… I've never met this boy, n-never seen him before today but I can't help but cry for him, feel completely destroyed from... earlier. It's like they were hurting me while they hurt him."**

**Hiashi at first thought she was being a bit irrational, but he smiled as he remembered something very near and dear to his own heart, a very similar situation that he had once been in; and saw that she was looking up at him with a confused look on her face.**

"**What's so funny father?"**

"**It's nothing. Really. It's just what you just said. That's exactly how I felt when I first met your mother."** **Hinata blushed and looked back down at Naruto.**

"**Hinata, do you like this boy?" Her blush deepened and she had lost her voice again, but soon found it again.**

"**Father! I don't even know this boy. I'm just concerned for his well-being." She said with her blush still on her face.**

***.*.*.***

**Naruto could feel something wet fall on his face for a couple of minutes. He thought it was rain but didn't remember seeing a cloud in the sky. Then he heard two voices. One belonged to a young girl while the other belonged to an older man.** **Naruto opened his eyes and saw the owner of the young girl's voice.**

**He heard her say, "Father! I don't even know this boy. I'm just concerned for his well-being."**

**When he focused his vision, he saw that it was the same young girl who he saw crying earlier. Naruto saw that she still had tears in her eyes.**

'_**Is she still crying? Why is she still crying?'**_** He thought.** **Naruto sat up, surprising the girl, and leaned against the wooden fence next to him, as far from the adult as he could.**

**When he was sure he wasn't going to fall to his side, he nervously looked at the girl in front of him. The first thing that caught his attention was her lavender eyes, at first thinking that they were kind of weird, but in a good way. In fact, he thought they were really cute, that she was really cute.**

'_**W-Why did I just think t-that?'**_** He had a small blush on his cheeks and looked in another direction. Then he found some courage and looked at the girl again.**

"**W-why a-are you c-crying, pretty g-girl?" He asked innocently.**

**Hinata's was surprised by his question and flushed a deeper shade of red. She had not expected him to say that. Hiashi looked at Naruto suspiciously while Naruto looked back a him before looking back at Hinata who he now noticed her blush.**

"**D-Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide as saucers.** **Fearing another beating, he rolled away from the father-daughter duo and hugged his knees to his chest, raising his arms over his head to defend himself.**

"**I-I'm s-sorry… I w-won't do it a-again. Just p-please, d-don't hit m-me." He cried out, tears pouring out of his eyes, thinking somewhat coherently; **_**'I thought that maybe she was different, that she really cried for me. I was stupid to think like that. The life of an insect is as, if not more, important than my own.'**_

**Naruto made to stand up, but he felt a hand on his shoulder.**

**Already afraid, he decided to take a chance and see whose hand was on his shoulder. He didn't expect to see Hinata's hand on his shoulder or her smiling a sad smile at him. The next thing she said really surprised Naruto the most.**

"**I-I'm not going to h-hurt you. What's your name?"**

**Naruto couldn't believe she just asked him that. In his entire life, he never had someone be as nice to him as Hinata was being right now. She still smiled at him while she waited for his answer, Naruto felt like he was about to doze off but decided to answer her anyways.**

"**N-Naruto. N-Naruto U-Uzumaki." ****His voice wavering and his eyes darting everywhere, ready for a strike he was sure to come.**

**Hinata felt really bad for Naruto and decided to give him a hug. As soon as Naruto saw her stretch her arms out, he put his own arms on top of his head and hugged his knees, balling himself once again. He thought that now that she knew who he was, she would hate him and hurt him. Instead, she gave him a brief hug before softly forcing his head to lie on her lap. As Hinata ran her fingers through Naruto's hair, he started getting sleepy. He wanted to ask Hinata her name but couldn't because he felt himself losing consciousness. The last thing he remembered was a metallic smell in the air, cold liquid suddenly reaching his hands and hearing Hinata scream his name.**

***.*.*.***

"**Naruto?" Hinata saw his eyes suddenly closing and felt something wet in the hand that was in his hair. When she looked at it, she saw his blood all over it. She couldn't believe she didn't feel it right away. She should've gotten Naruto to the hospital as soon as the mob left. But she couldn't feel her legs and could not make them stand. So instead she started panicking.**

"**NARUTO! NARUTO!" Hiashi, who remained quiet the whole time, suddenly picked up Naruto from Hinata's lap while she cried.**

"**Let's go, if we don't get him to the hospital soon, it might be too late." Hinata nodded at her father's words and they both headed to the hospital. Hinata was nervous and prayed that Naruto would be ok. Hiashi was just concerned on getting Naruto to the hospital. **_**'Minato, if only you could see how foolish these people are being.'**_

**[*.*.Flashback End.*.*]**

Naruto remained still as he heard the door to his hospital room open. Then he saw someone enter his room from the corner of his eye. He instinctively flinched and scooted himself closer to the opposite edge of his bed. The Sandiame Hokage came closer to Naruto when he saw that he was awake, but when he was two feet away from Naruto, Naruto threw his hands over his head and brought his knees closer to his chest.

"P-Please… don't!" Naruto shouted, causing Hiruzen's movement to cease. "No…" He said quietly.

"Naruto, are you ok?" The third asked Naruto. The Third saw Naruto as a grandson and when he saw Naruto shy away from him, it broke his heart. "Naruto…"

"I said no!" Naruto said with hatred in his voice. Out of everyone in the entire village, in the entire world even, Naruto thought he could trust in Hiruzen, his surrogate grandfather. He hadn't received a single thing from him, save for the apartment but even Naruto could see that the broke down apartment isn't enough. Any trust he had for him was now shattered, he couldn't spend another minute with the man, whom at first he thought he could trust.

So Naruto did the only logical thing any six year old would've done; he jumped off the open window near him. What he didn't know was that his room was on the third floor. Naruto saw the ground rushing right at him. He didn't want to die, not yet. He closed his eyes and hoped that if he died, it would be painless.

However, he never felt his body hit the ground as his body was snagged by something and he felt wind past his blond hair. When he opened his eyes, he saw the ground under him rushing past him. He quickly looked up and saw that someone had saved him from his fall. He was speechless; someone had apparently seen him fall to his death and saved him.

'_What if this person realizes who I am? I hope he or she doesn't drop me because we're pretty high.'_

Shortly after the person saved Naruto, they landed near a huge mansion. Naruto got to take a good look at the person who saved him. A very pretty woman, with long, black flowing hair, crimson red eyes that were the same color as her lips. She looked to be a chuunin and very young. Then she bent down until she was at eye level with Naruto.

"Hey kid, are you ok?" The woman asked. Naruto stared at the ground in front of him, his eyes scanning for anything interesting, at least, more interesting than the woman. The question had completely caught him off guard and he really had no idea how to answer her question. A simple 'yes' would be sufficient but considering who he was, he didn't think a yes would be the answer she was looking for.

However, Naruto knew he was many things, most recently a demon as the village calls him, but he was sure he was not a liar. The woman in front of him crouched down in front of him and Naruto thought she was going to hit him or something so he flinched and took a step back. The woman blinked multiple times as Naruto looked away.

"What's wrong?" She asked and Naruto finally met her eyes before the intensity of it made him look away. The woman sighed and stood up. Naruto watched her stand from the corner of his eye and knew she was going to leave now.

"Do you want some?" Naruto blinked and looked up to see the woman holding a small candy in the palm of her left hand.

"F-For… m-me?" Naruto asked, unsure and doubtful. The woman nodded and smiled happily. "O-Ok." Naruto hesitantly grabbed the candy and took out the wrapper before putting the candy in his mouth. He was wary of it since someone had once drugged his food and beat him when they found him sprawled outside the store.

Slowly tasting the candy, Naruto found no added ingredient. It tasted really sweet that it made Naruto bend his head forward and cry. The woman tilted her head and walked in front of Naruto before crouching in front of him. She saw his tears and put her hands on his shoulders. He slowly brought his head up and looked at the woman.

"W-Why… w-why are you being s-so nice to m-me?" Naruto asked and wiped the tears from his eyes with his left sleeve. The woman didn't say a word; she was staring at Naruto, making him feel a little uncomfortable. Before he knew it, she brought him closer and hugged him. Naruto's eyes widened as his body stiffened at the contact.

'_Poor boy…' _The woman thought. After couple of minutes, the woman broke the hug and then stood up. She handed Naruto another piece of candy and smiled.

"It's ok if you don't want to talk right now, Naruto. If you ever need anything, just come and find me. My name is Kurenai Yuhi, just so you know who to look for." Kurenai said. Naruto just barely registered her name; he was so surprised at how well she treated him, and began to walk around the corner and disappeared from Naruto's sight.

Naruto looked down at the candy in his hands while the one in his mouth started to shrink. He pocketed the candy and wiped the remaining tear away from his eyes.

"T-Thank you… Kurenai-san…" He whispered as he continued to walk, oblivious to the other boy walking right in front of him. They both collided and Naruto fell on his butt. "Ow." He whined until he realized he ran into someone.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Naruto apologized. "I-I didn't m-mean to bump in-into you."

The person, child rather, that Naruto had run into, was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, who had been looking for his older brother, trying to get him to train him. When Naruto had knocked him to the ground, he took it as a personal insult to the Uchiha family and no one insulted the Uchiha family while Sasuke was around.

"You're gonna pay for that." Sneered the raven haired child.

Naruto wanted to run but his legs wouldn't move. Naruto could only watch in fear as the boy ran to him, ramming his knee into his stomach and he doubled over in pain, but he didn't stop there. He then punched Naruto in the chin and Naruto flew across the street. When he got up, his tears covering most of his cheeks, he braced himself for more.

"Tch, you're pathetic." The boy snarled. "Why are you crying? Are you a girl?" The boy continued to taunt. Naruto's legs still didn't respond as the boy ran at him again. Though he did manage to duck under the boy's left hook, he wasn't expecting the boy to drop down on all fours and sweep his legs under him. When Naruto fell on the floor, he cried out in pain when the boy did a flip and drove his foot into Naruto's stomach.

The boy chuckled as he jumped back and watched Naruto writher in pain. Naruto knew how to tolerate pain, he had to deal with it daily, but whenever it dealt with his stomach, it didn't matter if it was a punch or a kick; it almost always felt like a stab to him. Naruto's consciousness was starting to fade as he weakly stood up.

'_**Go to sleep… let me handle this…'**_ Naruto didn't reply to the voice in his head. Every since he was four, he had began to hear this voice and everything it said was spoken in an evil and malicious way. However, Naruto didn't have time to consider this as he lost consciousness.

The boy smirked when he saw Naruto hang his head and his body go limp.

"You're going to give up? Ha, sad, but I'm not done." Sasuke ran at Naruto again but was surprised when Naruto looked up and smiled like a madman, his right eye open wide while his left eye was halfway closed.

"**You wanna fight, do ya?!**" Naruto shouted in a voice that the boy didn't recognize. "**HAHAHA!**" Naruto quickly appeared in front of the boy and grabbed his neck. Spinning, Naruto slammed the boy into the ground and punched him in the face with his free hand. The boy grabbed Naruto's punch and kicked Naruto in the face.

"**Haha, that's it boy! Fight me!**" Naruto shouted and ran at the boy only to jump over him before he was kicked and grab his shoulders. With a primal yell, Naruto threw the boy over his head and made him crash against a building. The boy coughed up blood as Naruto laughed insanely.

The boy looked up and tried to stand but his body didn't comply. His eyes finally connected with Naruto's and onyx eyes stared in fright into crimson ones.

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened and he grabbed his head. Naruto fell into his knees and was groaning until finally, he stopped and dropped his arms. He looked up with tired eyes and they widened again.

"O-Oh no… I-I'm sorry." Naruto said as he stood up and ran away. The boy watched him leave and cursed under his breath; he was going to get his revenge on him.

After Naruto stopped running, he was bent down and panted. Suddenly, he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder and he cringed. He looked up and saw Kurenai looking down at him.

'_She's going to tell the Hokage and I'm gonna be exiled or worse, killed.'_ But all Kurenai did was smile warmly at Naruto.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." Then she motioned her thumb and index finger together and ran them across her lips, the same way someone would close a zipper.

Naruto blinked multiple times before he smiled for the first time. Kurenai's smile widened back at seeing him smile. She was surprised, however, when he hugged her. She hugged him back after gathering her wits.

"T-Thank you…" Naruto said.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Kurenai asked and Naruto nodded timidly. She then grabbed his hand and started to walk. Naruto almost tripped but after reovering, he kept up with Kurenai.

"A-Ano… e-excuse me…" Kurenai looked down but didn't stop walking. "W-Where are you t-t-taking me?" Naruto asked.

"To eat." She said and Naruto nodded though he was a little more than skeptical. He wasn't sure how much trust he could give an adult before they turned their back on him. Of course, Naruto being who he is, decided to give Kurenai the benefit of the doubt.

***.*.*.***

When they got to the restaurant, there saw a young lady working the register. When the lady behind the counter looked at Naruto, he panicked and hid behind one of Kurenai's legs, causing the lady to giggle and that hurt Naruto's feelings, he thought she was laughing at him. The lady stopped laughing and went up to Naruto.

"I'm sorry little one; I didn't mean to laugh at you. You're just so cute when you do that." She pinched his cheeks and he blushed a little. Naruto nervously clasped his hands together and was playing with his thumbs. Even though this lady was nice too, his fear of adults was just stronger. Then some old man came from out of nowhere and yelled,

"Ayame, what are you doing? There are customers…" The old man stopped when he saw Naruto hiding behind Kurenai.

He was so scared, this old man just yelled and scared Naruto even more, Naruto's been yelled at his whole life and still not used to it, as no one should be. The old man looked at him and then smiled.

"Well who do we have here? A little boy, huh? What's your name young man?" Kurenai moved behind Naruto to let the old man see him better and shoved him forward a little.

"Come on; tell this nice man you're name." Kurenai insisted. Naruto looked back from Kurenai to the old man. The old man looked eager to find out his name.

"N-Naruto, U-Uzumaki N-Naruto." The old man's smile widened.

"Nice to meet you Naruto. My name's Teuchi and I own this ramen shop." Naruto looked at him confusingly.

'_What's ramen?'_ Apparently the old man knew what Naruto was thinking because he said,

"It looks like you don't know what that is, so how about this; I let you try one." He turned around and started walking into the kitchen, but before he could, Naruto spoke again.

"No, don't." This seemed to confuse the man and every other person in the room. "I d-don't want to b-bother you. You'd only b-be wasting y-you're time on m-me."

The younger lady, now known as Ayame, hugged Naruto from behind; he whimpered and thought she was going to hit him. Impulsively, he jumped from her arms and ran to Kurenai, and hid behind her legs again and closed his eyes. She was the only lady, person actually, he thought that he could trust.

"I'm sorry; he's been through a lot his whole life so he has trust issues; though it seems he trusts me now." Naruto nodded his head and looked back at Ayame. Instead of her being angry like Naruto thought she'd be, she bent down and smiled at him.

"Don't worry Naruto-chan, I'm not mad. But I hope I can earn you trust soon." The old man soon joined in.

"Me too. And don't worry about this ramen, it's on the house." The old man, Teuchi, went to his kitchen to prepare this 'ramen'. Kurenai picked Naruto up and placed him in one of the chairs and Ayame ruffled his hair. Teuchi came back with a big bowl filled with ramen. Naruto spontaneously stood from his seat and sniffed his food.

He sniffed it like an animal would, a fox maybe, causing Ayame and Kurenai to squeal, though Kurenai's was so low, no one heard her. Naruto grabbed some chopsticks from the container and started eating. He really enjoyed eating the ramen. Naruto was eating it so fast that by the time he finished everyone looked at him funny, making him duck his head and flush a deep crimson.

"Thank you Teuchi, really. Naruto, don't you have something to say." Kurenai said as she picked him up. Naruto lifted his head off her shoulder and said,

"T-Thank you, sir. It was really d-delicious." Teuchi smiled at him and nodded his head. Naruto then buried his head back on her shoulder and closed his eyes shut.

"I'll see you later Ayame, Teuchi." With a wave of good-bye, Kurenai left the ramen bar and was walking. After some time, she stopped and pulled him apart from her. "Now Naruto, I'm sure you're tired by now, right?" Naruto tried to suppress a yawn but couldn't.

"Ok then, where do you live?" Naruto looked around and spotted his apartment. He pointed to the run-down apartment across the street. She seemed surprise at first but then she got angry.

"I'm s-sorry if you d-don't like it b-but its a-all that was l-left." He cried into her shirt, Kurenai only hugged him tighter and walked past his house. "W-Where are y-you taking m-me?"

She didn't answer. She looked very angry, which kind of scared him, so he stayed quiet the whole time.

'_How dare Hokage-sama give Naruto an apartment like that one!'_ Kurenai slowed her pace down a bit when she saw the Hokage tower. When they went inside she put Naruto down in front of the Third Hokage's office.

"Wait here ok? I'll be back in a minute." Then Kurenai headed inside to talk to the Hokage.

As Naruto waited, he heard many of the adults say things like "Demon spawn," or "Demon", "Abomination" and other hurtful names. He didn't understand it; he didn't know what he had done to be the victim of so many cruel names. He couldn't handle it anymore; he ran into the Hokage's office and grabbed Kurenai's leg as soon as he saw her, tears streaming down his face.

"DO YOU SEE WHAT THESE IDIOTIC VILLAGERS HAVE DONE TO THIS POOR BOY?" Kurenai shrieked at the cringing Hokage. "DO YOU SEE WHY I'M HERE RIGHT NOW? HIS WHOLE LIFE HIS BEEN LIKE HE IS RIGHT NOW! HE NEEDS MORE THAN THAT USELESS LAW AND YOU GIVING HIM SOME CRAPPY APARTMENT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT COULD FALL ON HIM AT ANY SECOND; HE NEEDS SOME ONE THERE FOR HIM! AN ADULT, SOMEONE LIKE ME!"

Though Naruto knew that he wasn't being shouted at, his grip still tightened on Kurneai's leg, causing her to pick him up and softly hugged him. "Shh… I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be so loud." She said, all the while glaring at the Hokage.

"I see what you mean, but there's nothing more I can do about the situation. I've done all I can. The council has control over domestic trials and laws. I already pushed it by insisting on giving him that apartment. If you want to take him in you're going to have to talk to the council." The third Hokage said. Naruto looked at him for a second before looking away. "I'm sorry Naruto."

"Tch, fine." The chuunin scoffed. "If I have to talk to a bunch of stubborn old fools than that's what I'll do." Kurenai walked away while she still held Naruto.

"Wait," Kurenai stopped and turned to see the Third Hokage taking something out of his desk. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw his orange notebook. "Here, you forgot this at the hospital, Naruto." Kurenai walked back and took it from him with as much respect as she could manage and gave it to Naruto who gripped it with his life.

Kurenai bid another farewell and headed out of the Third's office. When Naruto looked back at the Hokage, he saw a single tear fall from his cheek.

"Ok Naruto, you're coming home with me today and then tomorrow, I'll try to make it permanent. Is that ok with you?" He nodded his head as he started to doze off as the stress of the day began to take its hold him. Kurenai let out a soft sigh and said, "Go to sleep now Naruto, it's a long walk back to my house."

The second she said that, he let his head rest on her shoulder and fell asleep. When she was sure he was asleep, she spoke again. "I swear to you Naruto, I'll make sure you're protected." She kissed his forehead and continued her walk home.

* * *

**For now that's it... Hope you liked it because soon it'll change, for those who've read Naruto: Tale of his life... For all my new readers, hope I caught your interest and you'll keep reading...**

**Please review...**

**Till next time...**

**Next Chapter: Calm Before the Storm...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	2. Face your problems or run away from them

**Yo, this is the second chapter of the Diary of the Shy Jinchuuriki…**

**Sorry it took so long but my schedule's pretty busy lately…. **

**AAAAAAAAnyways, hope ya like the chapter….**

**Chapter 2: Face your problems or run away from them?**

**I don't own Naruto…**

_

* * *

_

_I woke up in an unfamiliar room. I looked around and noticed that it was a lot nicer than my room._

_Where am I and why don't I know where I am?_

_The last thing I remembered was Kurenai carrying me out of the Hokage's office._

_Did she take me to her home? But why?_

_I don't know but I should leave before I get her in trouble…_

_Maybe I should leave for good…_

***.*.*.***

Kurenai awoke with a start as she heard the softest of footsteps walking past her. As inconspicuously as she could, she turned her head and opened one eye. With her lone red eye, she saw a silhouette heading for the front door.

The silhouette itself was not intimidating; in fact, it was the size of a small child.

"Naruto." The silhouette froze as Kurenai sat up and stretched her arms and yawned. She got up from the couch and turned on a nearby lamp. Light suddenly filled the room as Naruto's eyes squinted at the light's sudden intrusion into his eyes. "Where are you going?" Kurenai asked in a tired yet firm tone.

"I-I… uhm, well…" Naruto tried to stutter out an answer but was too nervous to think of a legitimate excuse. He clasped his hands together and his thumbs started to tap against each other. While Kurenai waited for Naruto's futile attempt to come up with an excuse, she looked at the nearest wall clock and saw that it was almost five in the morning. She looked back at him to see that he had bags under his eyes and also bloodshot eyes.

It was obvious that he had no sleep at all last night.

"I-I was going t-to go… home?" Naruto said uncertainly. Kurenai raised an eyebrow as Naruto blushed and looked away.

"The p-park?" Naruto added but Kurenai's expression didn't change.

"Want to try again?" Kurenai asked and Naruto looked into her red eyes. "Because unless that backpack you have next to you…" She said, pointing to the backpack Naruto was hiding behind his back. "…has food, I don't think you were heading for the park or home."

Naruto looked at the floor feeling ashamed. He knew he wasn't a good liar; obviously deceit would be something he would have to work on if he planned on fulfilling his dream.

"Running away is never the answer Naruto." Kurenai said and Naruto gasped. "The only way to get rid of a problem or fear is to stand up to it. Running away will only give it a stronger hold on you and give you a better reason to fear it."

Naruto continued to stare at Kurenai before looking away with doubt. Kurenai sighed as she stood and walked over to the door. She placed a hand on the door knob before turning it and opening the door.

"If you still want to leave, that's fine, I can't make you stay." She said and Naruto hesitantly walked past the door only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder before he could take another step. He looked up and saw Kurenai staring at him seriously.

"But I will personally come after you if you decide to run away and make sure you come home in one piece Naruto." She said and Naruto nodded slowly. Kurenai nodded her head in response before letting him go. Naruto walked off and disappeared as he turned the corner. Kurenai sighed sadly as she closed the door to her apartment and went to her room where she let Naruto rest for the night.

She sat down on her bed but made no move to lie down. She was too worried about Naruto to even think about going to sleep.

Looking at the time again, she decided to get ready for the mission she was assigned to do in two hours.

Naruto walked down the street with his eye half closed and his pack weighing heavily on his back. He hadn't gotten sleep for the last two days and it was all because of his nightmare. It was the same one he had last week and the week before that and the week before that.

In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he had a good dream. If it wasn't nightmares then it was nothing at all; absolute darkness and emptiness. However, he preferred having no dreams than the nightmares that haunted his unconscious mind at night.

Sadly enough, the last time he even had a decent night's sleep was three weeks ago and even then it was cut short by the angry cries of drunk and hysterical villagers. Luckily, he had moved faster than them and found another resting place in minutes.

He was starting to think that he would never get sleep ever again and had to wonder if someone else knew his pain. Looking up at the sky and admiring the sky's beauty as the sun barely peaked over the horizon, he felt himself getting lost in the multitude of shades it held.

"Stupid brat." Naruto blinked as his admiration for the sky was interrupted by a random villager who muttered under his breath. That solemn comment made Naruto look away and head for the village's northern gates. He held tight to the pack on his back and a single tear streamed down his cheek.

"Good bye Konoha…" He said solemnly as he sneakily passed by the guards, both of which looked bored. From a far away distance, Naruto looked back and sighed.

"Good bye Kurenai-san, I'm sorry…"

**[*.*.*.*]**

A small boy, no older than five years old, walked down the street with an impassive frown and a pack over his shoulder. He was tired, hadn't had a night's sleep since the day he was born and he knew it. His teal eyes looked around, to make sure any new assassins weren't trying to shove a kunai in his head or heart.

However he had come to care less if another moron decided to waste his or her life away. He welcomed another idiotic tool to try and kill him; that way, he had more blood to feed to his sand. Still, he wished that his life was filled with more love and friendship instead of fear and hatred.

Yet he was tired of the buffoonery his village had to offer. He was tired of always being on the defensive and alert from all the assassination attempts. He was tired of it all.

So here he was, passing his village's front gate and walking into the desert with only the clothes on his back, the pack in his hands and his own name.

He knew where ever he would go, his new life would probably be better than the one he had now. That one day all would know his name, either out of fear or respect… All will know his name…

"Gaara of the Desert…" Gaara said as his body disappeared in the sandstorm.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto's stomach growled as he stopped walking and held his stomach in pain. He took off his pack and started to search through it for food. He smirked hungrily as he found an apple and a banana.

He felt guilty for stealing some of Kurenai's food but if he wanted to survive in the woods, he needed the energy to do it. He also vowed that if he ever saw Kurenai again, he would apologize to her.

It's been a whole two days since he left the village and wasn't surprised that he wasn't being looked for. He was disappointed though; apparently, Kurenai's promise/warning was false, just something she said to scare him from not running away.

Peeling away at the banana's peal, Naruto took a bite and smirked at the deliciousness of the banana. He looked around as he continued to munch on the banana.

He wasn't sure where he was but from his place, he could tell that within a forty foot radius was the border that separated the Fire and River Country. A tall, single mountain blocked Naruto's view of the River Country while a long river stream down from the mountain. A small cave entrance intrigued Naruto as he slowly walked to it, almost like he was in a trance.

"Hey kid!" Naruto stopped when he heard a man shout at him and flinched. He turned and saw a group of three men, one woman and one teen staring at him with a devious smile. Well, the teen had a combination of stoic and pensive look; if one looked closer, it seemed like he had a nostalgic expression.

"Y-Yes?" He managed to squeak out while holding his arms close to himself and the woman laughed.

"How cute, he's shy." She cooed as she gently scratched his whiskered cheeks with her nails. The teen in the group scowled as he glared daggers at the woman. Naruto whimpered as he backed up, making the woman scowl. "What's wrong with you brat?" She asked harshly and Naruto flinched.

"I-I-I…"

"It doesn't matter Mai, it's not like we're going to let him live anyway." One of the three men said and the woman, Mai, smirked.

"Before we do that," Another man started to say. "Give us the bag brat." The man demanded and Naruto shook his head.

"No, huh? That's ok; it would've been boring if you just gave us the bag without a fight." The biggest man in the group said. Snapping his eye open, Naruto turned around and ran for his life.

"Come on, he's only a little kid, we should be able to catch up to him." Mai said as the others nodded and were quickly catching up to Naruto.

"HELP!" Naruto shouted as he managed to avoid getting his head bashed in by the various trees. He noticed the dark clouds starting to cover the sun and he couldn't help but wonder if some deity was making his day even worse than it already was. The last thing he needed right now was rain.

Seeing the small cave entrance only five feet away, Naruto made one final mad dash for it, shocking his pursuers at his sudden speed. However, the skinniest of the five smirked as he disappeared in a whirl of wind and appeared in front of Naruto, blocking his path. Naruto stopped on a dime and turned but was soon surrounded by the three men and woman, the teen being nowhere in sight.

"You're surrounded punk! Now give us the bag!" Mai shrieked and Naruto meekly tossed his bag at her. She caught it and laughed.

"Time to die brat!" The biggest man said as he and his companions slowly started to get closer to Naruto.

"N-No." Naruto said tiredly before closing his eyes and hoping for the best.

"You do not decide who dies." A mysterious and stoic voice said. The four adults turned around, looking for the new voice.

"W-What's happening?" Mai screamed in terror as her whole body was consumed in sand.

"Sand?" The biggest man yelled as his entire body was also inside the sand cocoon. A second later, a third member was enveloped in the sand and the sand imploded, killing the three harshly and quickly.

"What the-?" The last man was interrupted as he jumped away from the bloody sand as it tried to envelope him as well. Rain started to fall down and Naruto watched as the sand that tried to consume the man started to become slower and slower as the rain continued to be absorbed by the sand.

The man, who had green hair and ragged grey clothes, disappeared in front of Naruto and gasped. A second later, he heard someone grunt in pain as a small boy with red hair appeared next to Naruto. He was wearing a tan shirt with dark brown pants.

"So you were the one who killed my comrades, eh?" Naruto and the red haired boy looked up at the last man who was border-line pissed and entertained. The red haired boy raised his hand with his palm facing the man but nothing happened. Naruto noticed the sand around the man was struggling to rise but the rain made the sand to heavy to rise.

"Prepare to die brats." The man said and the red head growled.

"I will not die here." The red haired boy stated nonchalantly and the man only laughed maniacally.

"Such nonsense." He said.

"**Water Style: Multi-Liquid Bullets!**" A voice shouted and water bullets started hitting the man in the chest.

"Ninjutsu? But… who…?" He wondered out loud in pain. The red haired boy steadily stood and then he ran at the man. As soon as he was two feet away from him, the liquid bullets died down. Finding an opening, the red haired boy thrust his right hand forward with a sand-spike shooting forward and piercing the man's heart. Removing his hand and spike, the red head stepped back and watched as the green haired man fell on his knees and then his face.

Naruto's body shivered as he watched his attacker fall to his knees and die. He felt like throwing up.

"You ok kid?" Naruto looked up to see the teen from before. He had spiky, dark red hair and grey eyes and he wore a ragged pale green shirt with ripped up tan pants.

"W-Who… aren't y-you…" Naruto stuttered but the teen shook his head.

"I was nothing but a pawn." He said and he chuckled. "Only fifteen and I already bested an old man, not really a great accomplishment in my book, ttebate." He said with a sheepish smile and Naruto turned his head.

"T-Ttebate?" The teen blinked multiple times before laughing.

"Sorry, it's just something I got from my sister." He said before his face became solemn. He then looked at Naruto with a fond smile. "You sort of remind me of her. Well, not really but… well, it's hard to explain." He added sheepishly. Naruto just stared at the teen, unsure of what to make of him.

"Hey you." The teen said, shouting to the red haired boy. "Thanks for killing the teme, he was getting really annoying." He said and the red haired boy looked away with a bored tone. The red haired teen pouted before walking up to the red haired boy and frowned.

"What's wrong with you?" The teen asked but the boy was silent; he just stood with a stoic expression. "The silent type huh?" The teen mused aloud. He then looked back at Naruto who flinched at the teen's intense and calculating stare. He blushed and looked away, clasping his hands together and messing with his thumbs.

"Great, I'm stuck with a boy that has the personality of a stick and another that's as shy as a mouse…" He looked back at Naruto who was getting smaller and smaller from the teen's stare. The teen sweat dropped and sighed. "…maybe worse…"

The teen then blinked as he heard footsteps behind him and saw the red haired boy leaving.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where're you going, little red?" The boy growled at the nickname.

"The name is Gaara." Gaara finally said and the teen smirked.

"So you talk, eh? Well my name's… Roka, Roka… uhm…" Roka hesitated before snapping his fingers together. "Roka Kururugi." Roka greeted and Gaara started to walk away again.

"HOLD UP!" Roka shouted, causing both young boys to flinch. Gaara turned back and saw Roka's smiling face. "You never answered my question, little red." Gaara really wished his sand was dry; otherwise, Roka would be begging him to live.

"I don't know… wherever I want." Gaara answered before turning around and facing Roka. "Unless you think you could stop me." He said emotionlessly. Roka smirked at his challenge.

"You wanna test me?" He asked but Gaara didn't answer; he knew fighting someone as strong as Roka would be foolish with his sand in its current state but he didn't want to seem cowardly and back down.

"Uhm… I-I think…" Naruto began but trailed off when both red heads stared at him. "I-I-I think… w-we should g-get out of the r-rain." He finished and Roka looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, probably." Roka said. "That cave you were heading for should be good enough for now." Roka insisted and Naruto nodded. The two of them started walking before noticing that Gaara hadn't moved.

"Are you waiting for an invitation little red?" Roka teased and Gaara glared at him harshly. Before he could retort, Roka disappeared in a cloud of thunderclouds and appeared behind Gaara.

"Come on, you can hang with us." He said before vanishing and appearing next to Naruto. Naruto gasped at his speed and Gaara stared at Roka in awe though he didn't show it on the outside.

"So… who knows how to catch fish?" Roka asked with his eyes closed and a broad smile. Naruto and Gaara looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders. Roka sighed.

"Hopelessly helpless, you're both going to be losers if you keep this up." Gaara's right eye twitched as he got a devious gleam in his eyes.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Old fools… since when should Konoha's advisors have decisions over civil matters?" Kurenai muttered to herself as she walked into her apartment room. She had just returned to her two day mission and wanted to do nothing more than relax… though the thoughts of Naruto's state of being did come to mind a second after she entered her home.

_'I wonder… did he run away?'_ Not too long after that thought did a knock come from her door. She walked up to the door and opened it to be surprised by none other than Dog, the Hokage's right hand ANBU.

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly and she thought she heard the ANBU sigh. He took off his mask and a lone black eye was all Kurenai saw.

"Kurenai, we need to talk." The ANBU said as he brushed his hand through his silver hair. Kurenai let Kakashi walked through into her home and she closed the door. Bracing herself, she walked over to Kakashi, waiting to receiving the seemingly bad news.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"W-Why did you s-save me?" Naruto asked shyly as Gaara sat in front of a fire with Naruto across him. Sitting next to Gaara was Roka with sand covering his mouth and bonding his hands and feet. His angry cries were muffled as Gaara put more sand in Roka's mouth.

"Those four look stronger… it seems the only strong one was this one." Gaara said, referring to the tied up Roka.

"S-So why didn't… why didn't you attack m-me or him?" Naruto asked and Gaara blinked once.

"Do you want me to?" Gaara asked and Naruto gulped and sweated bullets.

"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-No." Naruto said, clearly afraid of the other insomniac. Gaara's lips curved upward slightly, almost as if he was amused. "I-I just want to know… know if y-you were my f-friend or not." Naruto said and Gaara's amused look was wiped clean off and was replaced with a surprised look.

"Fr… Friend?" Gaara hesitated to ask and Naruto looked away shyly.

"I-I-I'm sorry, I w-was just saying… well, uhm… w-well, I-I thought that…"

"Spit it out!" Roka appeared behind Naruto and slapped his back… hard…

Gaara watched with strange interest as Naruto tried to subdue the pain in his back. He expected Naruto to get angry and kill Roka but was surprised when Naruto cried a bit and inched away from the crazed teen.

"What's wrong with you?" Roka asked and Naruto flinched again as he moved away from him. "Are you… are you afraid of me?" He asked and Naruto continued to inch away. Roka looked away hurt as he sat down near Gaara with a crescent fallen expression. Naruto wondered why he looked so hurt but was too afraid to ask.

"You two… are very strange indeed." Gaara commented and Naruto blinked.

"Is… I-Is that a good thing?" Naruto asked him and Gaara donned a contemplative look.

"…"

"…"

"…I wouldn't know." Gaara answered and Naruto looked away. Silence overcame the three; the only sounds that were heard were that of the rain hitting the ground and lightning striking the Earth.

"Hey, Blondie." Naruto looked up at Roka hesitantly. "What's your name?" He asked and Naruto looked at his feet before hugging his knees.

"N-Naruto… Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto answered and Roka's eye momentarily opened before relaxing.

_'I knew it…'_

"Where are you two from?" Roka asked and Gaara and Naruto looked at each other. Gaara gave Naruto a look that promised pain if he didn't go first.

"I-I'm from Konoha." Roka smiled fondly as he looked at the ceiling of the cave.

"Konoha huh? My sister went to Konoha… she never came back." He said, saying the last part with a frown. After a few seconds, he looked at Gaara.

"What about you little red?" Roka asked and a vein popped out of Gaara's head but he let out a deep breath inside of killing Roka.

"I was born in Suna but treated like I am a criminal." He said and Roka raised an eyebrow.

"How come?" He asked and Gaara looked away.

"For things I had no control over." He answered vaguely and Roka resisted asking him to elaborate; whatever secrets he wanted to keep where his to keep. He knew it wasn't in his place to ask.

"Y-You too?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone. Gaara looked at him doubtfully.

"'You too' what?" Gaara questioned and Naruto shook his head.

"My v-village hates me… and I-I don't know w-why." Naruto stated and Gaara continued to stare at Naruto with fascination.

_'This boy… he's like me…'_

"Oh come on Naruto! I bet there is at least one person who doesn't hate you!" Roka said cheerfully and Naruto looked at him. "I know I don't… wait, I don't count since I'm not from that village… Still, I don't hate you; I'm actually fond of you, kind of like you're my little brother or something…" Roka told him with a happy smile. Naruto could find no deceit in his smile, it looked very genuine.

"And I'm sure little red doesn't hate you. I don't know if he likes you but hate is definitely not there." He added quickly and Gaara glared at Roka but didn't really show that he disagreed with Roka's statement.

"I-It doesn't matter, I-I'm not g-going back anyway." Naruto said and Roka looked at him while blinking repeatedly.

"Why not?" He asked but Naruto refused to meet his eyes.

"N-Nobody likes me… w-why should I stay?" Naruto asked to no one in particular.

"Because running away from a problem doesn't make it go away." Gaara stated and Naruto looked at him incredulous.

"Little red is right!" Roka said.

"I will kill you." Gaara said monotonously but Roka ignored it.

"Just because you ran away doesn't mean the problem is solved. Does this mean that you'll run away from wherever you are just because someone doesn't like you? Huh?" Roka asked him.

"I…" Naruto was about to answer but he couldn't find the words to answer him correctly. Kurenai told him this but he didn't want to understand it.

"Look, how about we make a deal; if I promise to go to Konoha, will you come with me?" Roka asked and Naruto looked into his grey eyes.

"H-How do I know I-I can t-t-trust you?" Naruto asked him and Roka put on a pensive look before smirking.

"Because I never go back on my word." He answered simply and Naruto was taken aback by his immediate answer. After thinking about it Naruto nodded and Roka smirked before looking at Gaara.

"What about you little red? You going to come with us?" He asked and Gaara thought it over. "Come on, it's not like you have a certain place you want to go, do you?" He asked and Gaara continued to think in silence.

"You don't have to answer me now, but I'm going to need an answer once the rain dies down because that's when Naruto and I are going to Konoha." Roka said and Gaara nodded.

Silence once again reigned over them as they each became consumed with their own thoughts. Naruto noticed that Roka kept on looking at him with a calculating look before changing to a questioning one. After what seemed like forever to Naruto, Roka spoke with a giant smile.

"So Naruto, you got a lady back home?" He asked and Naruto blushed seven shades of red, almost as red as Gaara's hair.

"N-N-No, n-n-no ladies… g-girls scare me s-sometimes." Naruto stuttered and Roka raised an eyebrow.

"Scare… you… girls?" Roka asked and Naruto nodded. Roka took in another breath and was about to speak but stopped himself and shook his head.

"Do all girls scare you or is there a certain type?" Roka asked and Naruto thought it over.

"A-All of them… I think…" He trailed off and Roka scratched his head.

"You think?" Naruto looked at him before nodding his head hesitantly. Roka sighed and groaned.

"Emiko won't like this…" Roka said with a sigh after closing his eyes. Gaara and Naruto looked at him expectantly. Roka blinked as he felt himself being watched and saw that both boys were looking at him. "What?"

"E-Emiko?" Naruto stuttered out his question and Roka raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I mention her before?" Naruto and Gaara sweat dropped and Roka laughed sheepishly. "Oops."

"Who is she?" Gaara's monotonous tone echoed in the cave and Roka looked around.

"Weird… anyways, she's just a friend of mine who used to live in Takigakure. She's actually in the River Country; I just have to go get her real quick. Just wait for me here." Roka stood and ran out of the cave. After a while, Naruto and Gaara looked at each other before Naruto looked away.

"You said your name is… Naruto Uzumaki?" Naruto made eye contact without turning his head and nodded.

"And you a-are…?" Naruto hesitated to say little red, believing that the scary insomniac didn't want to be called anything similar to little red.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert." Gaara answered and Naruto nodded before smiling shyly.

"N-Nice to meet you." He stammered and Gaara smiled a little, barely noticeable.

"Likewise." Gaara responded. Silence returned and Naruto found himself getting even more uncomfortable as he saw Gaara's passive teal eyes looking at him.

"Uhm… W-Why are you l-looking at m-me?" Naruto asked and Gaara shook his head.

"You mentioned earlier that you are just like me; that you were the village's pariah, the center of its hatred." Gaara said and Naruto gained a crescent fallen look.

"Y-Yeah." Naruto answered somberly.

"Why is that?" Gaara asked, watching Naruto's movements carefully to interpret his answer. Naruto's answer didn't come immediately after his question. He was still trying to figure it out himself.

"I… I don't know." Gaara's unseen eyebrow rose as he saw no lie in Naruto's answer, in either words or body language. "I-I just know that they h-hate me. I don't t-think I did something to m-make them h-hate me but they j-just do." Naruto continued.

"Are you a jinchuuriki?" Gaara asked and Naruto looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Jinchuuriki?" The word intrigued Naruto and grasped his interest.

"Do you not know what that is?" Gaara asked him and Naruto shook his head.

"What is it?" He asked and Gaara opened his mouth only for thme to hear lightning strike the outside of the cave and see Roka limping back into the cave. His burnt body fell with a thud and he coughed up some black smoke.

"S-She's… here…" Roka stuttered as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Gaara stood and with what little dry sand he had, he summoned it to his right to create another weapon. He could see a silhouette slowly walk into the cave and relaxed when he saw another teen walking into the fire's light, revealing a girl.

"Hello." She greeted. She had short, black hair and dark tan skin. She had a light blue tank top on with blue ANBU pants on. It was ragged and dirty but held up pretty well.

Naruto moved a little closer to Gaara while Gaara relaxed but still kept the sand up.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked in a somberly way and Emiko blinked. She then picked up Roka and pointed at Gaara. Roka looked at Gaara with glassy eyes before looking at Emiko with a tilt of his head.

"That's little red?" Emiko asked and a vein popped in Gaara's forehead.

_'Not another one…'_

Roka nodded his head vigorously before Emiko let him go and hugged Gaara.

"He's so cute! He's like a baby panda!" Emiko stated as Gaara blushed and struggled against Emiko's surprising hold.

_'Being called a panda is way worse than being called little red.'_ Gaara thought as his lack of air was starting to get to him. Emiko finally let him go and smiled at Naruto who looked away and played with his thumbs.

"Aw, who's this?" Emiko asked and Naruto saw that Roka was still trying to recover from the spontaneous lightning strike.

"I-I'm N-N-Naruto." Naruto answered and gasped when Emiko giggled and closed her eyes with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Emiko Ryusaki. I'm used to be from Takigakure but it got boring so I left." She said childishly and Naruto sheepishly laughed with her.

_'Should I trust her?' _Naruto thought as he saw Roka stand from the corner of his eye. He dusted the black dust off him and sighed.

"I don't think that lightning strike was necessary, Emiko." Roka said with a light glare and Emiko blushed.

"Sorry but no one told you to leave me alone for three days while you ran off and played bandit." She retorted and Roka scoffed.

"You're too nice to play the bandit and…" Roka blushed faintly. "Never mind, the point is that I got the bounty money for them and we have a new home." Roka said and Emiko raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with the one in the River Country?" Emiko asked and Roka chuckled.

"I kinda promised Naruto I'd go to Konoha with him." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. Emiko looked at Naruto before giving Roka a serious look.

"Isn't that the place your sister-"

"Yeah." Roka answered and Emiko nodded.

"So, why should I come to?" She asked and Roka gulped. "I like the home in the River Country." She stated.

"I'll be your best friend?" Emiko raised her other eyebrow and Roka sighed.

"I'll let you buy as much dumplings as you'd like." He offered and Emiko giggled.

"OK!" She shouted and Roka sweat dropped before looking outside.

"Well, the rain's died down. So, what do you say Emiko?" Emiko hummed before nodding with a shrug.

"Sounds like fun." Emiko cheered and Roka laughed sheepishly and looked at Gaara.

"What about you, little red?" Gaara glared at Roka before sighing.

"I suppose." Gaara answered and Naruto was a little relieved; he didn't want a kid like Gaara to be alone.

"We should get going then before the rain comes back." Everyone nodded as they walked out of the cave and Roka put out the fire. "It's a two day trip back and sunset is in two hours so we might have to stop at a nearby town soon."

"I-I know one t-that's a-at least two miles a-away from here." Roka smirked.

"Then that's where we're going."

**[*.*.Later.*.*]**

Kurenai sighed as she sat down near the campfire. Next to her were her best friend, Anko Mitarashi, and other close friend, Kakashi Hatake, or Dog as his ANBU team knows him as.

This time however, he was wearing a jonin vest instead of his ANBU uniform.

"With this rain, I doubt Pakkun or any of my other dogs would be able to find him." Kakashi said and Kurenai shot him a cold glare.

"I told you before Kakashi, you didn't have to come. No one forced you to come." Anko looked dead panned at her friend.

"You forced me to come." Anko stated and Kurenai looked at her with a shamefaced smile.

"True." She then adapted a serious face. "But that's because you owe me big." She said and Anko raised her eyebrows.

"You don't mean…" Kurenai nodded solemnly.

"That's right; Chūnin Exams, Forest of Death… _That_ night." Anko gulped and Kurenai nodded again. Kakashi looked at both Chūnin with slight interst and entertainment. Oh how he wishes he could know what happened _that_ night. Sadly, Anko scoffed, crossed her arms over her chest and didn't say another word. Kurenai also refrained from going into detail; leaving Kakashi to sob in exaggeration.

"So why do you want to save the brat, Kurenai?" Anko asked and Kurenai stared into the fire.

"Because he's just like me… a shy outcast." She said and Anko nodded in understanding. Kakashi just stared at Kurenai intently and smiled under his mask.

_'Shy outcast, huh? You are a very interesting person Kurenai.'_ Kakashi said as he stood and stretched.

"Well, I'm heading in for the night." Kakashi stated but before he could enter the tent he set up, snakes wrapped around his legs and dragged him over to their mistress.

"Where are you going dog-breath? We're not done here." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"We still need to come up with a strategy to find Naruto." Kurenai said and Kakashi sighed.

"Well I have nothing. My dogs need a scent and thanks to the rain, that scent is gone." Anko let out a frustrated sigh and cupped her cheeks with her hands and let her elbow rest on her knees.

"It's official; all guys are stupid and useless." Kakashi glared at Anko.

"I can assure you Anko, I'm not stupid and I'm definitely not useless. I could find Naruto before you could even spell his entire name." Kakashi retorted before eye smiling. "Not that you could even spell his first name anyway." Anko was fuming as she grabbed Kakashi's shirt and brought his face up to hers, their noses touching.

"You better wipe that eye smile off your eye before I take that eye out as well." Anko threatened and Kakashi stared into her eyes intently.

"I'd like to see you try Mitarashi."

"Keep pushing me, Hatake and I just might." She smirked evilly before pushing Kakashi back. "Besides, I bet I'll find the brat before you and your mangy mutts can finish eating your kibbles 'n bits." Kakashi chuckled as he gave a challenging glare at the Snake Mistress.

"Is that a challenge?" Anko returned his glare and chuckled as well.

"Are you scared?" She asked.

"Not even a little." Kurenai watched this with little entertainment, her mind still worried on Naruto. She sighed as Anko began yelling at Kakashi while the Hatake tried his best to ignore the loud woman. She shook her head, wondering why she considered these two her closes friends.

She wondered if maybe she should look for more friends...

"You baka, I dare you to say that one more time!" Kurenai looked up when she heard Anko yell and sweat dropped when she saw Anko choking Kakashi out with her legs.

Strike that, maybe it would be better if she looked for normal friends…

***.*.Next Day.*.***

Morning came far slower than Kurenai might've wanted but when it did, she, Kakashi and Anko were up and following the trail Naruto left. The rain might've made his trail nonexistent but before the rain, the three were able to figure out that he was heading Southeast of Konoha, right near the Fire and River Country's border.

They passed a total of five towns and in each of them; at least three people have said they've the shy jinchuuriki.

In retrospect, the odds of finding Naruto were very slim but Kurenai decided to stay optimistic and say that they will find him.

She could only stop on a tree branch and widen her eyes in surprise when she saw Naruto walking down a trial with three other people.

"I found him! No you didn't, I did!" Kakashi and Anko said simultaneously.

"Will you two be quiet; we don't want to scare him or let his companions know we're here." Kurenai scolded only to hear someone land next. She turned to see a spiky red haired teen looking at her with a silly smile.

"His companions know you three are here." Roka said and Kurenai sweat dropped.

"I probably wouldn't have noticed you here if it wasn't for those two." He said while pointing to Kakashi and Anko. "You three are very sneaky people; maybe you three should wear a bell around your neck." The three sweat dropped.

"Though I suppose it would defeat the purpose of being shinobi…" Roka mused as he trailed off before another person appeared next him.

"Roka, come on, Konoha's only a day's travel away." Emiko appeared next to Roka and Roka nodded.

"Yeah I know but hey, look who I found." Roka said as he pointed to the three speechless Konoha Shinobi; they had no idea what to make of the red haired idiot. Emiko smiled and bowed to the three.

"Hello, my name is Emiko Ryusaki and this is my… childhood friend, Roka Kururugi." Emiko greeted with a faint blush. Roka looked at her for a second, wondering why she hesitated for that one second but decided to question it later.

"Hey, so I'm guessing you three are looking for Naruto, eh?" Kurenai nodded and Roka and Emiko smiled.

"You just made our lives a little bit easier." Emiko cheered while Roka stared intently at Kakashi who from under his mask had his mouth agape.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hiruzen could only assume that his old age was finally catching up to him as not only did Kurenai, Anko and Kakashi stood in front of him with Naruto but also with the Yondaime Kazekage's youngest child and Roka Kururugi.

"Naruto, I'm slightly disappointed that you resorted to run away from your problems instead of facing them." Hiruzen stated after debriefing his shinobi. Naruto looked at the floor, ashamed of his actions. "However, you are still a child so it is alright." He continued.

_'And besides the fact that most of this is my fault, I can't blame you.'_ He thought with a somber expression.

"Kakashi," Kakashi nodded, letting Hiruzen know that he's paying attention. "Please watch over Naruto so he doesn't run away again." Kakashi nodded and looked at Naruto who shied away from him.

"Everyone except for Gaara, Emiko Ryusaki and Roka Kururugi is dismissed." Hiruzen said and everyone nodded. When everyone left, Hiruzen faced the three foreigners.

"So you three seek asylum in my village?" He asked and the three nodded. Gaara stepped up and stared at Hiruzen with apathy.

"I am tired of my old home, if I can even consider it a home. My father wants nothing to do with me. I for one don't mind that." Gaara stated before getting a hug from Emiko.

"It's going to be alright now, Chibi Panda-kun." He growled as Emiko refused to let him go. Hiruzen stared deadpanned at the scene before coughing into his balled up hand.

"Yes, well." Hiruzen looked at Gaara seriously. "You, of all people, should be aware of Suna's and Konoha's weary alliance. This could actually make it worse." Gaara nodded.

"I have heard father talk about Konoha on more than one occasion; none were ever really… positive." Gaara said and Hiruzen nodded.

"I figured as much." With a shake of his head, Hiruzen continued. "I'm not sure if we will be able to give you a home here. Whether or not you father wants you is not the case. You are his son and as such, it is my responsibility to send you back." Hiruzen stated.

"NO! DON'T TAKE CHIBI PANDA-KUN AWAY FROM ME!" Emiko shouted as she hugged Gaara again. Roka chuckled sheepishly as he freed Gaara from Emiko's death hug.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, we've tried finding a cure for her love of pandas, and dumplings, but unfortunately, there is no cure. What she meant to say though is that we might have a way to avoid sending Gaara back to his 'home'." Roka said, putting air quotes around the word 'home'.

"How so?"

"I can adopt little red here and everyone can assume that I am his older brother." Roka said and Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "All you have to do to make this possible is make me and Emiko honorary Konoha shinobi." Roka finished and Hiruzen chuckled.

"I see. Well, is there any particular reason I should keep the Yondaime Kazekage's child here?" Hiruzen asked.

"You would be making a small child happy, ttebate." Roka looked down at Gaara and saw that he wasn't smiling. He hit the back of his head and whispered into his ear. "Smile, you idiot." Gaara smirked a little, even though it was forced. Still, Hiruzen smirked, closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No one's been able to give me this kind of headache since Kushina." He cracked his eye open to see Roka tense and close his hands.

"Kushina? You mean Kushina Uzumaki?" Emiko asked and Roka gulped.

"Well what do you say old man, yes or no?" Roka asked in a hurried tone and Hiruzen looked at him oddly before nodding.

"I'll set up the paper work." Roka sighed and Emiko and Gaara looked at him oddly.

"Hey little red, why don't you and Emiko go find Naruto and go get yourselves some dumplings…" Emiko looked like she was about to say something but Roka gave her a look that said he'd tell her later. She was still hard-set not to leave until Roka tossed her his wallet.

"On me." He said in a dragged tone. Emiko smiled and dragged Gaara out of the room. Roka then looked at Hiruzen seriously and warily.

"So you know, huh?" Hiruzen nodded.

"It wasn't necessarily hard to figure it out." He said and Roka rubbed the back of his head.

"Was it my hair or the way I spoke, ttebate?" Hiruzen chuckled.

"It was everything. It's quite humorous; you say 'ttebate', your sister used to say 'ttebane' and I once heard Naruto say 'ttebayo'." Hiruzen frowned. "It was faint, of course. His confidence isn't exactly as high as it should be." Roka nodded.

"I've noticed. So I'm guessing he's just like Kushina?" Hiruzen shook his head.

"More like his father but much shier and, if possible, quieter." Roka nodded.

"I was kinda hoping that he was usually like Kushina and he was only shy towards strangers or that something huge happened here." He shook his head. "But apparently he's always this terribly shy."

"It is unfortunate." Hiurzen commented.

"He's a jinchuuriki isn't he?" Hiruzen was shocked by his bluntness but nodded. "Just like my sister?" Hiruzen nodded again.

"So I can safely assume she's dead?" Another nodded but this one devastated Roka. "I was hoping that I would return to Konoha to see my sister but… but I guess I should've known when her letters stopped coming." He looked back at the door behind him before smiling.

"My nephew seems like he could be a handful." Hiruzen chuckled at this.

"At times." His smile then left his aged face. "It's not going to be easy… getting close to him, I mean. His trust in people is almost nonexistent." Hiruzen stated and Roka smirked.

"That's ok, I like challenges."

***.*.*.***

_Today was an interesting day. I met three very interesting people. I've never met people like them._

_Well, the girl who saved me is another interesting person but… but I don't really see her a lot._

_Who is she? _

_I kind of want to find out._

_I wonder how my life will change with all these new people…_

**

* * *

**

**That's it… Sorry if it seems…. Off….**

**I promise this story won't be focused on my OC/Naruto's uncle and his friend… By the way, he's the only thing I own besides the plot… Emiko belongs to my girlfriend…**

**Anyways, a very special person to me has something to say =]…**

**Tenshi: Hi!**

**Me: Yup, that's my girl…**

**Tenshi: That's my baby**

**Me: ^/^**

**Tenshi: lol so adorable**

**Me: So is there anything special you want to say, Koibito?**

**Tenshi: haha ^/^ uhm...not really I guess I just wanted to tell everyone hi and that your adorable... ^_^**

**Me: *blush* I love you!**

**Tenshi: haha Kawaii! See I told you he was adorable! I love you too anata…**

**Me:**** Forever and ever…**

**Tenshi: and after that…**

**Me:**** Always after that... hehheh well, let's wrap this up before we get too far… Say bye koibito…**

**Tenshi k...Bye-Bye!**

**Me:**** Lol sorry, I think we got a bit carried away…**

**Anyways, hope I don't ruin this story with my out-of-the-box ideas ^^;;**

**Till next time!**

**Next Chapter:...well, I don't know yet ^^;;**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	3. The Truth

**Enjoy!**

**Sorry, don't got much to say...**

**_"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!"_  
~Albert Einstein**

**Chapter 3: The Truth...**

**I don't own anything...**

* * *

_I'm afraid... After taking the time to think, I have come to realize that I'm afraid..._

_I ran away from Konoha. I should've been punished, exiled, locked up... something. But no, Hokage-sama has given me a second chance without any repercussions. I'm truly grateful for this but it doesn't seem fair. I will repay him by being one of his best shinobi; I will never give him a reason to regret his decision._

_This, I swear._

_Still, I'm afraid. Today, I'm going back to the academy and I know news of my runaway attempt has spread throughout Konoha. I bet Sasuke will make fun at me for running away. He'll make me feel like I'm worthless, like I'm just wasting my time and should just die. I mean, maybe, I don't know. Maybe I should give up. I'm not as cool or as fast as him..._

_No... I won't give up. I'll try my hardest everyday and in the end, that's all that counts..._

_...right?_

_That's what Emiko-san told me. After she invited me and Gaara [this new kid that's kind of different. He doesn't talk a lot but he seems nice] to eat, she gave me a pep talk and to be honest, it did kind of help._

_Gaara, Roka and Emiko..._

_I like them, they're nice to me. But I'm afraid to trust them too much. What if they betray me? What if they attack me?_

_I don't think my heart could take another betrayal. It makes me sad just thinking about it._

_Still, I... my heart's telling me to give them a chance._

_Should I?_

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto slowly made his way towards the academy. Gaara walked beside him with indifference to the world around him. Naruto wanted to ask him if he was nervous but he seemed too engrossed in his mind and Naruto didn't want to bother him with his petty questions and annoying curiosity.

"What is it?" Gaara's dry voice said and Naruto jumped.

"I-I uhm... I was j-just wondering... a-are you nervous?" Naruto asked and Gaara cocked an invisible eyebrow up. Naruto looked down.

"Nervous about what?" Gaara asked. He focused his eyesight in front of him as made a left turn, following Naruto.

"Going to the a-academy for the first time?" Naruto elaborated and Gaara scoffed.

"I don't care. My father told me that the Leaf's academy were soft on their students." Gaara replied.

"What did he mean?" Gaara rolled his eyes towards Naruto before looking forward again.

"No offense but Konoha's academy babies their students more than any other of the five major shinobi villages." Gaara explained and Naruto looked down. "They only talk about theories and other stuff but when it comes down to the practical stuff, you are unprepared." Naruto closed his eyes and Gaara sighed. He had a feeling his words would hurt him.

"I suppose." Gaara's eyes widened a bit and he turned hsi head to Naruto who was looking up in contemplation.

"Explain." Gaara said and Naruto cleared his throat.

"N-Not a lot of students are that c-challenging in spars. Only S-Sasuke Uchiha but t-that's because he's tutored p-privately after s-school." Naruto explained and Gaara nodded his head.

"So who's this Sasuke Uchiha?" He asked. Naruto's body involuntarily shook and then he shook his head.

"This student in the academy. I-I don't know i-if his clan is well k-known outside but in Konoha, his c-clan is famous... or infamous; depending o-on who you ask." Naruto answered, his voice solemn.

"You don't seem to like this Uchiha." Gaara stated and Naruto blinked, a surprised expression placed on his face.

"W-What?"

"This Uchiha kid you're told me about; you don't seem fond of him." Naruto shook his head violently.

"I-I-It's not t-that." Naruto assured him.

"Then what is it?" Gaara asked. Naruto looked crestfallen as he stared at his feet. True, he wasn't fond of Sasuke but he didn't want to say he didn't like him. Would he sound like a bad person if he told Gaara he didn't like the person everyone likes? What if Gaara gets mad at him for being petty? Would he still be his friend? Naruto's hands instinctively clasped together and played with his thumbs.

Before he could answer, Naruto heard Sasuke scoff.

"Tch, dobe." Naruto refused to meet Sasuke's eyes as he stood in front of him and Gaara. "Who're you?"

Gaara glared at the raven-haired boy standing in front of him. He didn't like his attitude and he didn't like how Naruto reacted around him.

"Who wants to know?" Gaara asked with the same air of indifference he usual gave off. Sasuke glared back and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I do, so who are you?" Gaara smirked and continued to walk with Naruto in tow.

"Don't worry about it." Gaara answered and Naruto let out a small smile as he heard Sasuke grunt angrily. He never had the nerve to talk to anyone, especially Sasuke, like that and to have heard and seen it happen made his morning better.

"T-That was bold of you." Naruto stated and Gaara shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't care for people like him. Spoiled brat." Gaara spat out venomously as the two jinchuuriki continued to head for the academy. They didn't get far before they were stopped by Sasuke who ran in front of Gaara and Naruto and prevented them from walking any further.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked, already agitated from their first meeting.

"I want you to fight me." Sasuke said, his eyes burning with rage.

"You're not worth my time." Gaara told him. "Now get out of my way." Sasuke smirked when he saw rage in Gaara's eyes too.

"Fight me!" Sasuke shouted, playing devil's advocate.

"I said no." Gaara retorted and Sasuke chucked a little.

"Heh, weakling." Sasuke taunted Gaara before walking away. He took a step forward and stopped. He looked down and saw something he's never seen before.

"What did you call me?" Gaara asked, annoyed beyond belief. He had his right arm up and summoned his sand to capture Sasuke's left leg. He had his hand open and closed it slightly. Sasuke winced when the sand tightened around his leg.

"What the-?" Gaara used his sand to pick Sasuke up and turn him upside down. He hovered two inches off the ground and watched with wide eyes as Gaara crouched in front of him.

"If you get in my way again, I'll kill you." Gaara said. In his eyes, Sasuke saw that what Gaara had just told him was true. He could tell that he would get out of his way just to kill him. Gaara smirked a little when he saw some fear in Sasuke's eyes and dropped him on his head.

"Hn, pathetic." Gaara walked past Sasuke as Naruto followed after him. Sasuke looked up at Gaara with rage but he knew he couldn't be careless. Gaara was not one to take lightly and if he wanted to mess with him, he had to be clever about it.

"I wish I could do that." Naruto said and Gaara smirked.

"You could if you wanted to." Gaara said and Naruto shook his head.

"N-No, I can't." Naruto insisted. "I'm not brave enough." Gaara stared at him from the corner of his eye and nodded.

"You got me there." They remained silent as they entered the academy and into the classroom. Naruto moved to the seat all the way to the back of the classroom as he and Gaara waited for class to start. Gaara noticed that some would stop to glare at Naruto and stare at him with confusion and disappointment. The way that his father talked about Konoha, Gaara expected the kids to be kind to one another. Sure, they were human and had their differences but the stories he's heard made Konoha seem like the only thing they argued about was how much more peaceful they could get.

Now he knew better; in fact, they gave Naruto the same looks he received in Suna. It appeared to Gaara that it didn't matter what the circumstances were, all outcasts were treated badly. Even worse considering that he and Naruto were containers for chakra beast. However, Gaara was fortunate to have this piece of information kept to himself. They didn't even tell Naruto why he was hated or tell him what he kept inside him.

He let his head rest on his right hand as his elbow rested on the desk. He honestly didn't care who knew of the bijuu imprisoned inside him, he was here to learn to become a weapon for the village he now served under. He couldn't care less what these weak children thought of him.

Finally, only two seats remained empty and Gaara could only hope that class would start soon. Naruto's heart rate sped up as he waited for a certain someone to come through the door.

A girl with long pink hair walked into the room. Her jade eyes scanned the room and Naruto looked away, thinking she was looking at him. She scoffed and looked away.

"..." Gaara watched as Sakura sat down without a word and face forward. He looked at Naruto who sighed sadly.

"Who's that?" Naruto blinked and faced Gaara.

"Huh?"

"The pink haired girl. Who is she?" Gaara repeated and Naruto shook his head.

"Sakura H-Haruno. She's a girl that goes here." Naruto answered and looked at the door, expecting someone to enter.

"Who are you waiting for?" Gaara asked and Naruto blushed.

"N-N-No one." Naruto answered, a little to quickly for Gaara's liking. Naruto heard the doorknob turn and turned expectantly and was not disappointed when the person he was waiting for finally arrived.

The girl's dark blue hair rustled as she walked into the room and stopped short after passing the threshold. Her lavender eyes looked up and scanned the room. It wasn't long before she continued walking to her seat which was one row below Naruto's. He watched as she sat down and folded her hands in front of her, resting on the desk. Naruto continued to just stare at the back of her head before coming back to the waking world by an elbow to his left bicep.

"Who's she?" Gaara asked as he pointed to the girl who sat in front of Naruto.

"I-I think h-her name's H-Hinata H-H-Hyūga." Naruto replied. Hearing her name, Hinata turned and looked up, blinking as she registered the two sitting above her.

"H-Hello Naruto." She greeted with a kind smile and Naruto blushed and waved. She then turned her eyes to Gaara and smiled nervously.

"H-H-Hello." She greeted again and Gaara nodded his head, letting her know he acknowledged her greeting. She gave one last glance at Naruto with a blush staining her cheeks before turning and facing the front.

Gaara eyed Naruto as he noticed that Naruto's line of sight never shifted from the raven haired girl. Intrigued, Gaara continued to look at Naruto until he got his attention. Realizing that it would take longer than he would like, Gaara elbowed Naruto. The boy blinked and looked at Gaara who kept his emotionless mask.

"Why do you keep staring at that girl?" Gaara asked bluntly, making Naruto pale. Gaara was not very subtle with his question and his voice was anything but quiet. Also, aside from that he was pretty loud for a monotonous boy, Hinata was only a foot away from them and surely heard him. Naruto couldn't see it but Hinata's face lit up like fireworks.

Naruto moved his right index finger to his mouth, motioning Gaara to be silent. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow and watched as Naruto looked at Hinata again, making sure she didn't turn while he spoke. He then sighed and moved a little closer to Gaara.

"W-Why are you talking so loud?" Naruto asked in a hushed voice. Gaara just blinked.

"What's the problem?" He asked in a more quiet voice.

"I-I don't want her to know I-I was staring at her." Naruto whispered as his eyes continued to zoom back to Hinata once in a while, making sure she wasn't looking at them.

"So why were you?" Gaara repeated his question. The question made Naruto blink and looked down, a blush adorning his features.

"I-I don't know. I just was..." He looked at her again and then back at his hands. He turned so he was facing the front of the classroom and said nothing more. Gaara stared at his companion with confusion before his attention was attracted by a man standing in front of the class after clapping his hands.

"Good morning class." Iruka said as he saw Naruto looking at the wall on his left. Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"I see your back, Naruto. How was your little trip?" Iruka asked and Naruto ducked his head under his arms. He didn't think Iruka would call him out like that and had hoped that he'd blend into the wall or something. Gaara noticed his discomfort and looked back at the scarred man. Said man shook his head and looked down at a sheet of paper handed to him by Mizuki a while ago.

Gaara... Uzumaki?" Iruka called out and Gaara and Naruto blinked in surprised and looked at each other before looking at Iruka who was just as surprised as they were. The entire class started to murmur to each other and looking at the red head.

"He has family?" A random voice was heard ask.

"My dad said he was an lonely orphan." Another stated.

"I was told he killed all his family members. None survived." A female voice said.

"I didn't hear that."

"Well its true, my big brother told me." The girl added.

"Apparently that's not true because there's another Uzumaki sitting right there." Kiba said as he leaned back on his chair. The girl glared.

"Are you saying my brother is a liar?" Shouted a girl with green long hair as she stood. Kiba stood up and faced her.

"If the shoe fits." He said and the girl's glare intensified. He glared back and was about to say something when Iruka slammed his hand on the desk, causing everyone to look at him. He ignored his throbbing hand and hid it behind his back.

"That's enough!" Iruka shouted and then looked at Gaara. "Will the new student please stand." Without a word, Gaara stood and crossed his arms over his chest. He just stared impassively at his classmates and instructor as he felt eyes fall on him.

"So you're Gaara Uzumaki?" Gaara looked at Naruto who shrugged his shoulder.

"If that is what it says on that paper." Gaara answered nonchalantly.

"You share the same last name as Naruto; are you related to him or is it just a coincidence?" Iruka asked, a bit skeptical of the last choice. Once again, Gaara looked at Naruto for confirmation or support but Naruto shook his head and then shrugged.

"We... share a bond and lineage that ties us together." Gaara replied cryptically. Naruto looked at him oddly, not quite sure what to make of his answer. Iruka looked at him and then at Naruto.

"So... that's a yes?" Gaara nodded his head and Iruka smiled.

"Alright then, welcome to my classroom Gaara. Now take a seat and we will begin." Gaara sat down and looked at Naruto who was staring off into space with a contemplative look. Gaara tapped Naruto's shoulder.

"We need to speak to Roka." Gaara stated and Naruto gulped before nodding his head.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Aside from the introduction, everything went by normally and soon, the class ended and Naruto walked beside Gaara as they headed home. Naruto still had a contemplative look on his face and wasn't saying anything. Gaara was somewhat glad as he had no idea what to talk about anyway.

"Munchkins." Naruto and Gaara blinked as they turned and saw Roka munching on a pocky.

"You." Gaara walked up to Roka while he glared at him. Roka just raised an eyebrow as he finished his pocky. He took out another and was about to put it in his mouth but it was slapped out of his hands by Gaara.

"HEY! MY POCKY!" He shouted with exaggerated tears. He shook it off and then looked at Gaara with a hurt expression. "Why little red? Why?" Roka inquired.

"Why is my last name Uzumaki?" Gaara asked him and Roka smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh... that."

"Yeah, explain." Gaara ordered and Roka continued to chuckle.

"Well, I needed a last name for you and that's what first popped into my head." Roka answered childishly and Gaara and Naruto stared at him incredulously. Out of all the unreasonable things to say...

"You are an idiot." Gaara stated and Roka smiled.

"Aw, I love you too little red." Roka teased and was soon lifted into the air and slammed into the nearest wall. Roka shook his head and looked around to see that Gaara's sand was pressing him against the wall. Gaara slowly walked up to a still smiling Roka and intensified his glare.

"Stop calling me that. I am not little red." Gaara told him in a low voice.

"That's right," Gaara sighed when he felt two petite hand wrap around his neck and hug him tightly. "He's Chibi Panda-kun." Emiko said as Roka and Gaara sweat dropped.

"Either way, you're stuck with that name for now. Think of it this way, at least I didn't give you a stupid name like 'Uchiha' or... Kamikaze." Naruto, Gaara and Emiko deadpanned at Roka who smiled nervously. "Geez, tough crowd."

Emiko finally released Gaara and smiled at the two children.

"Why don't you guys go to Naruto's place for a while." Emiko took out some money from her pocket and gave it to Gaara. "Maybe pick up some food on the way there." Gaara looked at the money then at Emiko. He wasn't so stupid that he couldn't see that she was trying to get rid of them. She wanted to be alone with Roka. Normally, he wouldn't care what she or the other idiot wanted to do but he had a feeling that the topic would be something worth listening to. On top of a nearby roof, sand started to accumulate and form into a second Gaara.

"We'll join you soon." Roka said as Gaara and Naruto started to walk away. When they disappeared from sight, Emiko glared at Roka who was too busy struggling against Gaara's sand to notice.

"Little red is going to pay for this." Roka said as he continued to struggle. He stopped when Emiko grabbed his face with her left hand and placed her right hand over his chest. He felt his heartbeat quicken before he was shocked by Emiko. The sand became disrupted and fell off Roka. Roka on the other hand, fell to the floor face first, shaking from the extra electricity running through his body.

After recovering, he glared at Emiko and stood.

"The hell was that about?" He asked in anger. Emiko continued to glare at him before turning her back to him. "Why are you mad? You're not the one who got shocked!"

"Why didn't you tell him yet?" She asked and Roka felt his anger vanish. It was soon replaced with shame and sadness.

"And tell him what? 'Oh, hey Naruto, I'm your uncle from your mom's side. Why wasn't I there for you? Well because I thought you died along with Kushina and Minato and I couldn't stand the pain of coming here where I thought you three died.' Really Emiko?" He answered and asked, his anger returning a bit. Emiko sighed and faced Roka once more.

"Look at how he is now. Don't you think he'd be happy finding out that he has some family out there that didn't abandon him or something?" She asked softly and sadly. Roka felt so ashamed that he couldn't even look at her. He knew she was right and he probably should've told Naruto from the start. But he just couldn't bring himself to say it, at least, not in that moment.

"You have to tell him. You have to tell him who you are and then some." Emiko finished and Roka nodded after some hesitation.

"I'll tell him." Roka agreed before meeting Emiko's brown eyes with his gray ones. "But I need to speak with someone before I tell Naruto." Emiko nodded and Roka disappeared in a puff of dark clouds. Emiko sighed and jumped into the roof where the sand clone was about to leave.

"Spying is bad Chibi Panda-kun." The clone sweat dropped before dissolving into sand and flying off. Looking up at the sky, Emiko stared at it for a second before smiling and taking out Roka's wallet.

"Thanks for paying for my dumplings, Roka-kun." Emiko said happily before running off to get dumplings.

**[*.*.*.*]**

A mask flew across the room as Kakashi crashed on his couch. He sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing from his currently passed mission. The pay was decent and the task itself was trivial but he needed some rest. ANBU are tasked to handle some dark and difficult mission, sometimes turning them into emotionless machines and tools. Kakashi wasn't the most emotional person in the world but he knew he was far from heartless. So, following that logic, even he needed time to himself from time to time. He thought about quitting the ANBU Black Ops. Maybe even try to have his own genin team.

A knock on the door seemed to disagree with Kakashi's desire to rest and he was tempted to just let the visitor think he wasn't home.

"Open up you lazy scarecrow, dattebate!" He visible eye widened and he sat up straight. With his eye focused on the door, he slowly shook his head.

"Only one person has every said that before." Kakashi said silently as he stood and walked up to the door and opened it. He was greeted to the site of Roka who had a scowl on his face. Since the first time he'd seen him, Kakashi knew he was staring at his teacher's brother-in-law. Trying to keep his cool demeanor, Kakashi raised his right arm up and eye smiled.

"Yo." Roka's scowl intensified and he shoved Kakashi aside as he walked in. "Yeah, come in." Kakashi closed the door and was about to say something when a fist caused him to fall back and hit the door. He turned and glared at Roka.

"You bastard." Roka insulted and Kakashi walked up to Roka.

"What's your problem?" Kakashi asked, his passive mask cracking.

"You know who he is, don't you?" Roka asked and Kakashi blinked in surprise.

"Who?" Kakashi asked, genuinely confused. Roka growled.

"Naruto." He answered.

"Little academy student who ran away?" He asked and Roka nodded his head. "Can't say I know him personally." Kakashi mused but was interrupted by Roka who tried to punch him but this time, Kakashi was prepared and grabbed his right fist.

"So you don't know who he is?" Kakashi shook his head.

"Not really, no." Kakashi answered, angering Roka more. "Why? Should I be concerned?" He asked coolly.

"I almost feel sorry for you, scarecrow." Roka said and Kakashi eye smile.

"Why should you?" He asked.

"Doesn't he remind you of anyone?" Roka inquired and Kakashi blinked. "Anyone? Maybe like the old man who dances for money down the street? Or maybe that one guy in those karate movies?" Kakashi's eye smile disappeared and he glared at Roka as he kicked him back. The kick connected with Roka's stomach but that only made Roka take two step back without flinching.

"The games end here. You attacked an ANBU of the Sandaime Hokage twice now and the only reason I haven't killed you on the spot is because of your connection to sensei." Kakashi said with the seriousness of an ANBU captain. "Tell me what you came to tell me or get out." Roka finally smiled but it didn't hold any of the normal mirth it usually had.

"You're showing me compassion? But what about Naruto? Don't you at least feel obligated to help Naruto considering who his parents were?" Roka asked and Kakashi's lone eyes widened slightly. "Don't you think its weird that he has the same last name as Minato's wife but looks exactly like him?" Roka continued and Kakashi looked away, ashamed.

"I know who his parents were." Kakashi said solemnly. "I always knew." Roka clenched his fist.

"But you didn't do anything for him... did you?" Kakashi refused to answer and Roka was starting to lose his patience. "Say something." Roka demanded.

"No." Kakashi finally answered and Roka smiled mirthlessly.

"That's what I thought." Roka walked past Kakashi but before opening the door, Roka turned and punched Kakashi squarely in the face. Kakashi fell on his couch, not showing any signs of pain. He only showed regret and sorrow in his one eye. Stepping through the threshold, Kakashi heard Roka's voice.

"I'm gonna tell Naruto who I am and who his parents were, you're welcomed to join me. But I don't want to see your face until you tell him." Roka took to the roofs and left Kakashi to his thoughts. Kakashi just sat on his couch, thinking over Roka's words.

"Holy sh... Hatake, are you alright?" Kakashi didn't look up and he didn't need to to identify the voice as Anko. He felt her soft hands go to his shoulders as she shook him. "Helloooooo?"

Kakashi finally looked up and his eye connected with her. The two blinked when they realized they were only inches away from each other's face. She pushed Kakashi back, took a stepped back and blushed while Kakashi just continued to stare at her.

"Well, you seem ok." She said and Kakashi slowly nodded his head. "I'll be going now."

"Wait." Kakashi called out before Anko left. "Why'd you come to see me?" He asked and even though he couldn't see it, Anko's blush darkened.

"I uhm... saw your door opened and remembered that you almost never left your door opened." She said and Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"And how would you know that?" He asked and Anko chuckled sheepishly.

"Ask Kurenai that and see what kind of reaction you'll get. It'll be hilarious." Before Kakashi could ask anymore questions, Anko sprinted out of the room. Kakashi sighed as he stood and closed his door.

"Damn it." He cursed as he headed for his bathroom for a shower.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Gaara watched as Naruto started eating his take-out ramen slowly and patiently. Gaara had finished his a few seconds after starting. What could he say, he liked eating delicious food.

Trying to forget his sudden craving for cookies, Gaara concentrated on the information he received from his sand clone. He had no idea the other red headed idiot was Naruto's uncle. He was glad Emiko hadn't destroyed his clone otherwise, the information never would've reached him. He was expecting something more but this was good enough.

Longer than he would've liked, Gaara watched Naruto finish his ramen, put his bowl in his kitchen and sit on his couch where Gaara shifted his gaze to the blank TV. Naruto just sat there, waiting for Gaara to turn on the TV.

"Uhm... Why are you s-staring into a b-blank screen?" Naruto asked and Gaara looked at him.

"I don't know where the remote is." Gaara answered and Naruto stood and went over to the TV. Before he could turn it on, he saw the door open from the corner of his eye and see Roka walk into the room. He smiled as soon as he laid eyes on Naruto.

"Hey, uhm..." Roka lost his nerve as he continued to stare into Naruto's eyes up to the point that he broke contact. "I uh, need to speak with you Naruto." Roka said and Naruto gulped.

"W-What about?" Naruto asked hesitantly. Roka looked at Gaara and Gaara closed his eyes as he stood.

"I'm going to go look for Emiko, she has something I want." He said as he left the room. The two were surrounded by silence and Roka suddenly wished Emiko was with them. She always knew what to say while he just said the first thing that came to mind.

"So... you're six eh?" Naruto nodded his head and Roka sweat dropped. He groaned and held his face in his hands as he worked up his courage.

"Alright Naruto, you might want to sit down. What I'm about to tell you is big." Roka said as he sat on the couch. Naruto sat next to him and watched as Roka took deep breaths.

Naruto wasn't sure what Roka was going to tell him but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a trivial matter. It upset him just to think of the subject and it was taking all his will not to jump out the window.

"I'm not a very subtle guy so I'll just say it." Roka gulped and stared into Naruto's eyes. "I'm... your uncle." Naruto blinked and watched as Roka broke the eye contact. Roka allowed Naruto to soak up this information and waited for him to respond. He was kind of expecting Naruto to laugh or yell at him to leave or something worse but he wasn't expecting Naruto to lean forward.

"Hey, its ok." Roka said sadly, thinking Naruto was about to cry but when he gently pushed him back, he sweat dropped at the sight. Naruto had fainted. "Ah, damn it Naruto, not now." He said as he started to shake Naruto comically. Finally, Naruto woke up and stared at Roka with vacant eyes. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"S-Sorry, Roka-san. I didn't mean t-to fall asleep. I had a w-weird dream." Naruto said and Roka smiled nervously.

"Was it me telling you that I'm your uncle?" He asked and Naruto nodded before tensing. He looked at him with scared and shock eyes.

"D-Did I talk i-in my sleep?" Naruto asked and Roka shook his head.

"It really happened. I'm really your uncle." He said and Naruto's eyes widened before they became droopy. "Naruto, don't fai-Damn it!" Roka shouted when Naruto fell back. He shook Naruto for a good minute before Naruto woke up with spinning eyes.

"Ah... I... I-I don't feel s-so... good." Naruto shot to his feet and ran into the bathroom, the door slamming shut. Roka held his head as he let out a groan. He stood up and knocked on the bathroom door.

"You ok in there buddy?" He heard Naruto suck in deeply.

"Uh-huh." He mumbled before hurling. Roka sighed; things never went as planned. He started thinking to himself, wondering how he was going to explain everything to Naruto. He smiled when he thought of a way and took out a key he always kept in his back pocket. He blinked when everything became quiet and knocked on the door again.

"Naruto?" No answer. "Hey, Naruto!" Still there was no answer. He took a step back before busting the door opening with his right foot. He looked around and saw that it was vacant. He felt a breeze and saw that the window was open.

"Damn it Naruto." Roka cursed as he ran out of the room and the apartment.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto doubled over as he panted. He ran for ten minutes straight, not really sure where to but he just wanted to get out of his apartment. He felt claustrophobic in there, especially after Roka told him he was his uncle. He just had to get out of there. He noticed that he was a block away from the academy.

"Your eyes are so weird..." said one child. Naruto blinked and looked around. He saw three boys huddled over something. The way they stood over the source of their attention reminded Naruto of a couple of wolves over their prey.

"Yeah, they're even creepy looking. No wonder your clan is so isolated, they're all ugly." Naruto walked closer to the boys, wondering who they were talking about and when he stood few feet away, he saw a mop of midnight blue hair, making his eyes widen. The boys were making fun of Hinata, taunting her beautiful eyes and making Hinata cry as she curled into a ball against the wall of the building. The boys laughed some more until something, rather, someone else got their attention.

"C-Can you leave that girl a-alone, please." Naruto asked, making all the boys turn their heads to him. Hinata looked up and saw that it was Naruto. She then saw the other boys smirk and start running after Naruto who ran off when he saw their smirks. Hinata wanted to get up and help Naruto but she couldn't, her body wouldn't let her. She just sat there, hearing the sound of fist connecting with skin.

After getting the strength to stand, Hinata ran in the direction she saw Naruto and the other boys head. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a bloodcurdling scream. Her heart began to pound after hearing the yell and she ran faster. She saw two of the three boys from earlier run out of an alley, crying and with fear in their eyes. She cautiously walked down and looked into the alley and her eyes widened.

"I-I'm sorry." The third boy cried as he was being choked out by sand that was wrapped around his neck. It kept him off the ground and was efficiently cutting off oxygen.

"That's not good enough." Gaara growled as he had his right hand extend upward with his palm open. "I don't want to see you or your pathetic friends messing with him." His voice was calm and low but the killing intent he was radiating scared the boy.

"Ok, OK!" The boy yelled and after a while, Gaara let him fall. The boy stared at Gaara with fear before standing and running past Hinata, not even noticing that he almost knocked her down.

"What do you want?" Gaara asked and Hinata poked her index fingers together.

"I-I wanted to make sure N-N-Naruto was ok." Gaara eyed Hinata suspiciously. He turned to Naruto and Hinata assumed that was his way of letting her get closer. When she finally saw Naruto, she gasped and almost cried. Naruto was barely conscious and his left eye was swelled up, he had many bruises and cuts and was much paler than he used to be. She didn't hesitate to drag him out of the trashcan, pulling out some of the ointment and healing herbs she carried around just in case she was ever in an accident. She started to apply the salves to Naruto's bruises and cuts.

Naruto winced once or twice but other than that, he was calm and unmoving. When she finished, she stood and stared at Gaara.

"W-We need to get him to m-my house." Hinata stuttered and after a moment's hesitation, Gaara nodded. He helped Naruto stand and placed his left arm over his right shoulder while Hinata put his right arm over her left shoulder.

"W-Why are y-you... helping me... again? Both of you?" He asked in between groans. Hinata smiled at him while trying not to cry.

"Because you helped me and I can't l-live you here; it's not right." She told him.

"You're the only person I know around here. It wouldn't benefit me if you died." Gaara answered and without another word, Naruto lost consciousness and made it harder for them to carry him but they decided not to try to wake him, not that they could have anyways.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto's eyes popped open as cold sweat traveled down his brow. His dream… It felt so real. His heart felt heavy as the images of his dreams replayed in his head. He shook his head; thankfully, he was forgetting some of the more gruesome details of the dreams.

He looked around and saw that he was in a room that looked like a hospital room. The only difference was the scent in the air. It didn't smell like medicine; it smelled more like fancy perfume and lavenders. He blinked when he heard someone moan. His eyes moved down and saw Hinata sleeping on top of his legs. She was sitting on a chair near his bed but sometime before he woke up, she leaned forward and fell asleep.

He blushed and looked around the room, hoping to see if he missed anyone else. Nope, only Hinata was in the room... alone... with him. He was about to wake her up but was stopped when the door to the room opened and Roka stepped into the room. He blinked when he saw Naruto looking at him.

"Oh, you're awake." He then noticed Hinata sleeping on top of his legs and smirked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you guys." Naruto became mortified after his smirk and as Roka took a step out of the room. "I'll just come back later."

"No." Naruto whispered as loud as he could without waking Hinata. Roka chuckled as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. After calming down, Roka adopted a serious demeanor.

"We need to talk." He said as he grabbed Hinata and gently placed her on the second bed. He then sat on the bed she was in and stared at Naruto who was looking at Hinata.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked and Roka sighed.

"Hyūga compound. Infirmary." He answered, a stoic expression on his face. Roka continued to stare at Naruto passively while Naruto stared at everything but his uncle.

"Do you now believe me?" Roka asked and Naruto bit his bottom lip. The door opened and Emiko could be seen sticking her head into the room. She blushed and giggled nervously.

"Sorry, I'll just come back later." She closed the door and Roka turned his attention back at Naruto.

"So?" Roka asked.

"I..." Naruto stopped when Hinata moaned and sat up. She stretched and rubbed her eyes, unaware of Naruto staring with a blush and Roka rubbing his temples with impatience. She opened her eyes and after staring at Naruto and Roka, the thought registered in her mind and she blushed.

"I-I'm sorry." She said and put her hand over her mouth.

"It's ok." Roka said as he stood. "Naruto should be ok now, thank you for bringing him here." Roka thanked and Hinata nodded her head.

"I-It was nothing." She replied and Roka turned to Naruto.

"Come on, we should go home." Hinata blinked.

"H-Home? But he's h-hurt." Hinata said and Roka shook his head.

"He's healed now." He turned his gray eyes to Naruto and spoke. "Right?"

Naruto nodded his head as he got out of the bed. He was still wearing his bloody clothes and sighed at the sight.

"Come on, we'll get you a new pair of clothes on the way home." Roka said and bowed his head at Hinata. "Thank you again and give your father my thanks as well." Hinata nodded and bowed as Roka passed by. Naruto slowly passed her after saying goodbye and Hinata couldn't help but smile.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow, N-Naruto." Hinata said and Naruto nodded and left the room. After he left, Hinata stared at her hands. She narrowed them a little before clenching them tightly.

"I... I won't be a burden... not anymore." She declared as she walked to the window and saw Naruto and Roka leave the compound. "I'll be strong... for you Naruto-kun."

After walking out of the compound, Roka stopped and kneeled in front of Naruto.

"I know you probably don't believe me now but when we get home, I'm sure I'll be able to convince you." He said and Naruto nodded his head, still unsure. After stopping by some clothing store and buying him a couple of white T's and black pants, the two walked by Naruto's apartment.

"W-Wait, where are you going? M-My house was back there." Naruto asked and Roka smiled knowingly.

"We're not going there. We're going to your actual home." Roka answered. After walking for ten more minutes, Naruto's eyes widened as they stood in front of a mansion with a large gate surrounding it.

"This is your home." Roka said as he motioned the entire mansion with his arms.

"I-Isn't... isn't this where...?" Roka nodded as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Let's talk inside." He said as he took out some keys from his pocket and opened the gate. Naruto remained speechless as they walked past the yard and into the home.

**[*.*.*.*]**

_This house... this mansion... Roka said it's mine..._

_I... I can't believe it..._

_What's more... Roka's my uncle... MY UNCLE!_

_He gave me a tour of the mansion but it was so late that we couldn't take a look around the whole place..._

_However, what I did see was that my parents were very interesting people... They were rich and really, really, REALLY loved ramen... They had a whole pantry stocked with ramen noodles... Ramen is good... I don't blame them..._

_Did I mention who my parents were?_

_My mother was a red head from Uzushiogakure. Roka showed me a picture of her... She was very beautiful... Roka says I look like her except I have my father's hair..._

_And my father... I fainted five times before I was able to completely register the fact that my hero, THE YONDAIME HOKAGE, was my father!_

_Can you believe it?_

_I almost can't!_

_Today was a very interesting day... I learned who my parents were, learned that... that they didn't leave me because they hated me. In fact, Roka said that they loved me very much even before I was born... I didn't believe him at first but... then he showed me the room they set up for me... It had a crib, toys, everything a baby would need..._

_I used to wonder many things about my parents but never did it ever occur to me that they could... love me..._

_Roka is in the kitchen now, preparing the ramen my parents loved so much... It smells good..._

_Maybe I should started calling him uncle Roka... Roka-nii... I like that one better..._

_Hopefully he'll like it too..._

_Oh, the ramen's done... I'll write again tomorrow..._

_There's been a lot of surprises lately... Maybe tomorrow will bring another one...?_

* * *

**Was it good?**

**Sorry, I don't got much to say today...**

**Till next time...**

**Next Chapter: The Yondaime's Secret Vault and Map...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...****  
**


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